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Gas-Particle and
Granular Flow Systems
Coupled Numerical Methods
and Applications
Gas-Particle and
Granular Flow Systems
Coupled Numerical Methods
and Applications
Nan Gui
Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology
Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety
Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University
Beijing, China
Shengyao Jiang
Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology
Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety
Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University
Beijing, China
Jiyuan Tu
Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology
Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety
Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University
Beijing, China
School of Engineering, RMIT University
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Xingtuan Yang
Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology
Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety
Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University
Beijing, China
Elsevier
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ISBN: 978-0-12-816398-6
v
vi Contents
PART 2 APPLICATIONS
CHAPTER 4 Application in gas-particle flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.1 Homogeneous turbulence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.1.1 Governing equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.1.2 Collision rates and statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4.2 Planar jets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.2.1 2D case with the heat transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.2.2 3D case with the two-way coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.3 Swirling jets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
4.3.1 Vortex breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
4.3.2 Coherent oscillation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
4.3.3 Particle-vortex interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
4.3.4 Four-way coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
4.4 Bubbling fluidized bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
4.4.1 3D bubbling fluidized testing bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
4.4.2 Pulsed fluidization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
4.5 Spouted bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
4.5.1 CFD-DEM vs. SVFM-based fine LES-DEM . . . . . . . . 190
4.5.2 Particle phase behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
4.5.3 Gas phase behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
4.5.4 Additional remark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
4.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Contents vii
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
CHAPTER
Introduction to two-phase
flow
1
1.1 Flow classifications
In physics and engineering, a flow system is usually characterized by the movements
of the material medium, which can be continuous or discrete, e.g. solids, liquids,
gases, and plasmas. For example, particle flow or granular flow is mainly composed
of solid materials, such as sands, grain, gravels or rocks. A fluid flow usually refers
to the flow motion of liquids, gases, or melted metals, etc.
To characterize the common and essential features of different materials in a flow
system, the concept of ‘phase’ is frequently utilized. A phase is a physically distinc-
tive form of a substance, such as the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of ordinary
matter – also referred to as a macroscopic state [1]. Therefore, a flow composed of
one state of matter is called a single-phase flow, and a flow system with two or more
states of matter is called a two-phase or multiphase flow. It is possible for a system
of a single material to be considered two-phase or multiphase flow, if at least two
distinct dynamical properties of the same material are displayed. For example, a flow
consisting of particles of a single material may be regarded as a two-phase system
if there are fine light particles and heavy inertia particles as two components with
clearly different dynamical behavior. In conclusion, a phase is a continuous or dis-
cretized system characterized by the same physical properties, mechanical states, and
similar dynamical behaviors.
ticity overtakes deformation in vortex [4–6]. This implies that vorticity and vortex are
completely different concepts. In general, direction of the vorticity is different from
that of the vortex in three-dimensional vortical flows. The vorticity vector (∇ × V )
can be decomposed into a pure-rotational component (R, the vortex vector named
‘Rortex’ or ‘Liutex’) and a nonrotational asymmetrical-deformation component (S).
They declared that, rather than vortex dynamics, R-dynamics (Rortex dynamics or
Liutex dynamics) should be used to investigate the mechanisms of turbulence. Based
on the new vortex identification method, they revisited the Kolmogorov hypothesis,
and declared that turbulent flow has a unique and deterministic solution, which is
not governed by vortex breakdown, but vortex build-up. This work provides a unique
insight on the mechanism of turbulence. In addition, researchers have also tried to
re-examine turbulence under the Lagrangian framework and great efforts were made
to understand the kinematic properties of a fluid particle, such as acceleration and
velocity [7–13].
Single-phase turbulence has wide applications in life. The turbulent jet is one of
the typical examples of turbulent flows with various applications in industry (e.g., free
jet, impinging jet, cross jet, slot jet and jet array) [14]. The vortex structure, mixing
layers and heat transfer are complex yet very important intrinsic characteristics in jet
flows. For example, in the nonisothermal jets, the temperature can be approximately
viewed as scalars driven by turbulence with self-diffusive characteristics. Turbulence
is intrinsically chaotic or fractal. The fractal measure arises from the fact that the
underlying physics of scalar turbulence seems to be closely related to the self-similar
multiplicative fragmentation processes. The mixing and heat transfer interfaces are
always fractal with a noninteger Hausdorff dimension, which implies the stratified
self-similar structure. Fractal dimension could be very important to understand the
turbulence. For industrial applications, the heat transfer interface of a large fractal di-
mension may be beneficial as it can enhance heat transfer efficiency. It is clearly seen
that the effect of fluid properties and characteristics of boundary conditions could
be very important to enhance mixing and heat transfer, as they may affect the inner
interfaces of heat transfer.
A jet flow imparted with a rotational motion about its axis is called a swirling
flow (Fig. 1.1). Swirling flows are frequently encountered in nature, such as torna-
does, typhoons, and ocean currents, which have been studied extensively over the
past decades. The vortex breakdown, related to the coherent structure of the swirling
flows, is considered the most important phenomenon, to which a lot of research has
been devoted [15–22]. The most remarkable feature of the vortex breakdown is the
abrupt change of the vortex structure with pronounced retardation in the axial flow.
Correspondingly, this results in a divergence of the stream surface along the axis [23].
Thus, vortex breakdown can be depicted by three main characteristics: formation of
an internal stagnation point along the axis, reversing flows in a limited region, and
the sudden expansion of vortex core [24]. The vortex breakdown is considered a ma-
jor coherent structure in swirling jets, as the well-organized fluid motion is at scales
comparable to the flow. However in general, there is no accepted definition for the
coherent structure. One attempt is given by Robinson [25] saying that the coherent
1.1 Flow classifications 5
FIGURE 1.1
The single-phase turbulence in the Eulerian frame: swirling flow.
structure is a region over which at least one fundamental flow variable (velocity com-
ponent, density, etc.) exhibits significant correlation with itself or another one, in time
and space significantly larger than the smallest scales of the flow in the region. Be-
sides swirling flow, the vortex breakdown is also very important in aerodynamics and
combustion systems. For example, in aeronautics, the vortex breakdown can cause
unsteadiness and poor control of the aircraft [26].
In addition, it is necessary to mention that turbulence is not just random as it ap-
pears. Instead, it has intrinsic coherent structures, which occur in a wide variety of
turbulent flows. It is hoped that the work on coherent structures could lead to effi-
cient methods for prediction of overall features of turbulent flows [27]. The coherent
structure in swirling flows has been extensively studied [28], in areas of spatial struc-
ture [29], swirling combustion [30] and instability [31]. In particular, for power plant
using swirling combustors, the vortex breakdown is extensively studied to stabilize
the flame, as the air and fuel drastically mixes in the breakdown region in a result
of the there-circulation toward the stagnation point along the jet axis. With regard to
the swirl instability, for example, Shtork et al. [28] proposed a distinct modulation of
the combustion process by using hydrodynamic instability. Unsteadiness of the flow
is caused by the processing of the left-handed spiral (helical) vortical structure. Tem-
poral frequency of the helical mode can be modulated by superposition of its pure
rotation and axial translation, weighted with coefficients, which are the azimuthal
and axial wavenumbers, respectively.
6 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to two-phase flow
FIGURE 1.2
The gas-particle flow depicted by Eulerian–Lagrangian approach.
factors such as particle size, shape, density, roughness, etc. are considered. When
the particle-to-particle, fluid-to-particle and particle-to-fluid interactions are consid-
ered, the method is called four-way coupling. Such an example is the gas-solid flow
of sufficiently high particle concentrations (e.g., the dense flow region in fluidized
beds), where particle behaviors are not only influenced by the aerodynamic trans-
port of turbulence, but also significantly affected by the inter-particle collisions [32].
In addition, the particle-wall interaction should, at least, include the driving forces
from the walls (either stationary or moving), and the effects of wall geometry and
roughness should also be considered.
In two-way coupling of gas-particle flow, the research has been mainly focused
on two aspects: (1) the modification of turbulence [33–35]; and (2) the characteristics
of particle behavior (e.g., particle distribution, dispersion, clustering and coagulation)
[36–38]. The main characteristics of particle-laden flow are governed by groups of
key parameters, and some of them are elaborated here:
• Size (including particle diameter and the characteristic sizes of the turbulence):
∞
• Integral length scale: le = u1u 0 u u (r)dr, where r is the distance be-
tween two measurements, and u is the fluctuation velocity in the same di-
rection. It should be noted that the largest scale always correlates to the most
energetic eddies which may obtain energy from the main flow. Therefore, the
integral length scale le , defined in terms of the normalized two-point flow ve-
locity correlation, is an indication of the largest scales of eddies and velocity
fluctuation, which implies a low frequency in the energy spectrum.
• Taylor microscale λ, corresponding to the inertial subrange, is the intermediate
scale between the largest and the smallest eddies. Taylor microscale eddy does
not dissipate but transport the energy from the largest to the smallest eddies.
• Kolmogorov length scale η: it is the smallest scale in turbulence spectrum
which corresponds to the range in the viscous sublayer, where energy input
from the inertial subrange is balanced with viscous dissipation. These small
scale eddies, usually of high frequency, are always considered homogeneous
and isotropic.
• Mean free path of particle lp : it is the mean path length of the free motion of
particles. lp may start from a collision event and end at the next collision event.
According to the kinetic theory, lp may be affected by the local concentration
and velocity of particles, as well as the particle sizes.
• Time:
• Particle response time τp : driven by the fluid-to-particle force, a particle may
respond to fluid flow in short or long time duration depending on its physical
properties and the interaction of the particle to local turbulence. Usually, the
velocity difference between the fluid flow and particle motion decays expo-
nentially, e.g. in the form of Ce−τ/τp where τp is the characteristic time scale
of the dynamic response of particle in the fluid, or the relaxation time. It is seen
that the relaxation time τp , representing the time lapse for the difference of the
local velocities between fluid and particle phases, decreases to e−1 (herein e is
the Napierian base) of the initial value.
8 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to two-phase flow
(e.g., pipe flow [45], mixing layer [46], rotating channel flow [47], and isotropic
turbulence flow [35,48]). With regard to the dimensionless parameter for evaluating
turbulence modulation, frequently dp / le [33] or Rep [49] is used. For example, Gore
and Crowe [33] suggested to use dp / le , the ratio of particle diameter to the integral
length scale (the most energetic eddy), for the demarcation of the turbulence, where
augmentation (dp / le ≥ 0.1) or attenuation (dp / le < 0.1) of the turbulence flow by
suspended particles can be benchmarked. Using a different approach, Tanaka and
Eaton [50] proposed a novel dimensionless number, i.e., the particle moment number
Pa, to classify the turbulence modulation. The Re-Pa relationship was obtained by
examining a set of 80 experimental measurements, and this relationship was clustered
into three groups representing the attenuation, augmentation and transition regions
with two critical particle momentum numbers.
Besides particle properties and fluid turbulence, inter-particle collision is also of
great importance and needs to be carefully treated. Many of the early works [51,
36,34,35] assumed that the particle diameter is comparable to or less than the Kol-
mogorov length scale η. In this context and assuming dilute condition, inter-particle
collision and the particle size effects are usually neglected. Thus majority of the
early researches neglected the collision dynamics. To extend the regime of dilute
gas-particle flow to intermediate dense flow, particle-particle collision should be con-
sidered, and appropriate collision model is needed. Tsuji [52] proposed a model to
describe the collision of rigid granular particles based on the principle of conserva-
tion of the linear and angular momenta. The energy loss in collision was incorporated
through a restitution coefficient e. This model is called the hard sphere model (HSM),
which can be used to simulate the particle motion and collision deterministically. An-
other approach, the discrete element method (DEM) – a soft sphere model (SSM)
[53] – treats the particle-to-particle collision based upon particle kinetics. The soft
sphere model includes three fundamental inter-particle collision mechanisms: elastic
collision with viscous damping, inter-particle friction, and sliding trends. These mod-
els, together with suitable modifications and extensions, will be discussed extensively
in this book.
When the separation of particle centers is small compared to the smallest eddies in
the fluid, and at the same time, particles follow the fluid motion completely, then par-
ticle collision rates (between small particles in turbulent fluids) approximately depend
on the dimension of particles, rate of energy dissipation and the kinematic viscosity
of the fluid [54]. On the other hand, if particle-turbulence velocities are independent,
in analogy to the kinetic theory, particle collision rate in absence of the external force
should follow the suggestions of [55]. The dependence of inter-particle collision on
turbulence and particle properties was studied through direct numerical simulation
of heavy particle suspension in turbulent flow field [37]. By correlating the collision
frequency over several eddy turnover times, two complicated yet well-known effects
of intermediate Stokes number on particles were identified, i.e. (1) particles tend to
collect in regions of low vorticity (high strain) due to the centrifugal effect; (2) parti-
cle pairs are not as strongly correlated with each other, which leads to an increase of
relative velocity. These two effects cause the collision rates to increase locally.
10 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to two-phase flow
FIGURE 1.3
The granular bed.
FIGURE 2.1
Sketch of particle-particle collision.
simplify the collision process: (1) The collision is three-dimensional, taking place
between rigid particles of arbitrary shapes. (2) The momenta, including translational
and angular, are conserved during collision. (3) The Coulomb’s law of friction is fol-
lowed when inter-particle sliding motion on the contact surface takes place. (4) In the
normal direction of the contact surface, a normal coefficient of restitution e is defined
as the rate of magnitudes of the post-collisional relative velocity to the pre-collisional
relative velocity between the pair of colliding points (C and C ), i.e.
The day of graduation came. The sun shone bright and clear on this
great day in the life of Frank Merriwell, but still that feeling of
sadness was lingering in his heart, for he felt that he was bidding
farewell to his dear home.
Frank had competed to be a Townsend teacher, and he had been
chosen one of the fortunate six who were to speak for the DeForest
gold medal.
Thus it happened that he was given little time for thought and little in
which to see his friends, all of whom were eager to be in his
company.
Had he known that the oilskin envelope in his possession contained
nothing but blank paper it is not probable he could have spoken as
brilliantly as he did.
When the speaking was over it was generally conceded that the
handsome medal must go to Merriwell.
The faculty adjourned to the Treasury building, and there Frank was
awarded the splendid prize. Each member of the faculty shook his
hand in turn and spoke some word of praise to him. They looked on
him lovingly, for they knew that he had done more to raise the
standard of college life than any other student in the country.
Frank was on his way to his room when he almost collided with
Roland Packard.
Packard had been drinking heavily, and he stopped, his lip curling in
a scornful sneer.
“You think you’re it, Merriwell,” he said, in a tone of great contempt;
“but, if you only knew it, you are the biggest fool alive.”
Frank had no desire to exchange words with the fellow.
“You’re drunk, Packard,” he said quietly.
“You’re a liar, Merriwell!” snarled Packard, who seemed not to have a
single remnant of reason left.
Frank was not in the habit of taking the lie from anybody, but now,
seeing Packard’s arm in a sling, he did not heed the fellow’s insult.
“Your friends think you’re a great gun,” Roland went on; “but you
really are mighty small potatoes. Won the DeForest prize, did you?
Well, you may have to pawn it soon to get bread to keep you from
starving!”
This did not have the effect Roland had fancied it might, which
angered him to a still further expression of rage.
“Oh, you’re mighty cool; but you won’t be so cool when you find
you’re a beggar! And you are! I know what I’m talking about. You will
find it out in time, and I want to tell you now that it is I—I, Roland
Packard, whom you despise, who has made you a beggar! Don’t
forget it!”
He wheeled and walked swiftly away.
Frank stood still and looked after the fellow.
“I wonder what he meant,” Merry muttered, a feeling of uneasiness in
his breast. “Is he plumb daffy? I know he’s pretty drunk, but still it
seems that he must have some reason left.”
Frank was troubled despite himself, and he hurried to his room,
where he made sure the oilskin envelope was still safe in his
possession.
Packard had hurried away to drink still more. Already he was half-
crazed by liquor, but he felt consumed by a burning fire that called
for more, more, more.
The afternoon of graduation-day came and saw all graduating
students in caps and gowns, headed by the faculty, likewise garbed,
march to the music of a band out of the campus and down Elm
Street to the green, which they crossed, turning up Chapel Street to
Vanderbilt. The gates of Vanderbilt are opened but once a year,
always on this occasion, and through the gates they marched, under
the arch and across the campus. The chapel was entered, and then
came the last solemn ceremony of conferring the degrees.
Frank thrilled when he stood up to receive his sheepskin. There was
a choking in his throat, his sensation was a mingled feeling of joy
and sorrow that was like exquisite pain. His face was pale as marble.
When the certificate was placed in his hand he felt that it was the
document that divorced him from dear old Yale, and he sat down
with his teeth clenched to hold back the moan that sought vent.
It was over!
That afternoon a man was seen reeling over the Barnesville bridge.
He was intoxicated, and he seemed to fancy he was pursued by an
enemy or enemies who sought his life. Filled with mad terror, he
climbed upon the railing not far from the eastern end of the bridge
and flung himself headlong into the river.
Several persons had seen this crazy act, and they rushed to rescue
him, if possible. Two men pulled out in a boat toward the spot where
he had last been seen. As they pulled he rose to the surface, made a
few feeble splashes, and sank.
One of the men stripped off his coat and plunged in. He brought the
drowning fellow up, helped the other man get him into the boat,
crawled in himself, and they pulled ashore.
On the shore men worked nearly an hour over the poor wretch, but
all their efforts were unavailing. He was dead. In his pocket they
found some letters, which told them he was a student and that his
name was Roland Packard.
And thus it came about that in the pocket of his dead brother Oliver
Packard found another envelope that looked exactly like the one
Roland had snatched from Merriwell. He was astonished and
puzzled, but he took it to Merriwell.
“One of them must contain the message, Merriwell,” said Oliver,
whose face was marked with deep sorrow.
“To-morrow will tell,” said Frank, “for then I will open them both.” He
took Oliver’s hand. “I am very sorry, Packard,” he said.
“It is for the best,” declared Oliver; but his chin quivered as he turned
away.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MESSAGE STOLEN AGAIN.
Before them lay the mighty Rockies, rising range on range, till their
glittering, snow-capped summits pressed the sky. Wild and
picturesque and awe-inspiring was the scene. They were in the foot-
hills, and the country was rough and broken.
Frank had drawn rein at the mouth of what seemed to be a small
valley. He was covered with dust, and the hardy mustang he
bestrode showed signs of weariness.
Merriwell was clothed to rough it, having exchanged the garments of
the cities and towns for those more suited to the latter stages of his
search for the cabin of Juan Delores. On his head was a wide-
brimmed felt hat, and he wore a woolen shirt, with a side collar and a
flowing tie, a cartridge-belt about his waist, and leather leggings
covered his trousers nearly to his thighs. There were spurs on the
heels of his boots. His coat he had stripped off, for the day was
warm to an uncomfortable degree.
A Winchester repeating rifle was slung at the pommel of Merry’s
saddle, and a pair of long-barreled revolvers rested in the holsters on
his hips. Taken altogether, he looked like a young man who had
made preparations for almost anything he might encounter.
Bart Hodge, similarly mounted and dressed, had drawn up beside
Frank.
Despite their attire, there was something in the appearance of the
two young men that marked them as belonging to “the tenderfoot
breed.” In other words, the experienced eye would have discovered
at a glance that they were Easterners.
A cool breeze came down the valley, bearing with it a pleasant odor
of wild growing things.
The faces of both lads, lately fresh from college, had been burned
and blistered by the hot suns and searing winds.
“It’s remarkable,” said Frank, “that the people at Urmiston know
Delores, know he lives somewhere in this vicinity, yet not one of
them could give us accurate directions to reach his cabin.”
“Hanged remarkable!” growled Bart. “This is the third day we have
spent in hunting for his old place, and we’ve not even found a clue to
it.”
Merry nodded, frowning beneath the wide brim of his hat.
“We may have passed and repassed it,” he said. “There are plenty of
places where cabins could be hidden in these valleys.”
“That’s right. What are we to do?”
“Keep on hunting.”
“It’s rather tiresome.”
“I shall stick to it till I find the cabin of Delores, if it takes a year!”
exclaimed Frank grimly.
Bart knew he would do exactly as he said.
“Perhaps we may be disappointed when we do find it.”
“At least, I should be able to learn if my father is dead, and where he
is buried.”
“But the message——”
“I have hopes that I may learn the secret of that, also. It may be that
he did not trust it alone to that one document.”
“It’s getting late. What are we to do now? Shall we explore this valley
to-night, or wait till morning?”
Little of the valley could be seen through the narrow pass, and that
little seemed to promise that it led onward far into the hills. After a
moment Frank answered:
“We’ll ride forward and see if we can get a look into it.”
He started onward, and Bart followed, but they had proceeded only a
short distance when they were startled to see, sitting on a boulder at
one side of the pass, a strange figure. At first it was hard to make out
whether it was man or woman, but, as they drew nearer, it
straightened up and revealed, peering from the folds of a dirty red
blanket, the wrinkled and gnarled face of an old Indian. A pair of
beady black eyes were steadily regarding the two young men.
“Watch him, Merry,” cautioned Bart, in a low tone. “These half-
civilized red dogs are treacherous.”
The Indian did not stir as they approached. Beside him, leaning
against the boulder, was a handsome rifle. He did not touch the
weapon.
“Hello, chief,” said Frank, addressing the old man in a manner he
knew was flattering to some redskins, as he drew up.
“How, how,” grunted the old fellow, in answer.
“Are you acquainted in this vicinity?”
“Ak-waint?” said the old man. “No savvy.”
“Are you familiar with the country?”
“Fam-mil? What him?”
“Have you been all round every place here?” asked Merry, with a
sweep of his arm, using the simplest words he could command.
“Heap been all over,” was the assurance.
“Know Juan Delores?”
“Him don’t live round here.”
The answer was prompt enough—a trifle too prompt, Frank fancied.
“Doesn’t?” said Merry. “Where does he live?”
“Heap long way off there,” and the redskin pointed to the north.
“Are you sure?”
“Heap sure.”
“How far? How many miles?”
“Two time ten.”
“Twenty?”
The old fellow grunted an affirmative.
“Do you know the way to his place?”
Another affirmative grunt.
“Can you guide us there?”
“No time.”
“We will pay you well.”
“No time.”
“I will give you fifty dollars to guide us to the cabin of Juan Delores.”
“No time.”
“A hundred dollars.”
“No time.”
“Confound him!” growled Hodge angrily. “Money is no object to him.
It’s likely he doesn’t know the value of money. Now, if you had a
quart of whisky to offer him, Merriwell, you might get him to do the
job.”
“I will give you a new blanket and a rifle,” promised Merry.
“Got blanket an’ rifle,” said the old Indian.
“I will give you a good horse.”
“Got heap good horse.”
“What haven’t you got that you want?”
“No want nothin’.”
“Will you tell us how to get to the cabin of Delores?”
“Go there two time ten mile, find stream, go up him to spring, take
trail from spring; it make you come to where Juan he live.”
Merriwell was not at all satisfied with these directions. There was
something in the manner of the old redskin that seemed to arouse
his suspicions and make him feel that he was being deceived. Of a
sudden Frank asked:
“Who lives in this valley?”
The old man shook his head.
“No know,” he said. “Wolf, bear, mebbe.”
“That’s not what I mean. Is there a white man who lives in this
valley?”
Again a shake of the head.
“Wolf, bear, that all. No; big mount’n-lion—him there. Him kill hunter
—one, two, t’ree, four hunter—what come for him. Him vely bad lion
—heap bad.”
Frank was watching the man closely.
“That’s just what I’m looking for!” he exclaimed, as if delighted. “I
want to shoot a mountain-lion.”
“You no can shoot him. Big hunter try—no do it. Him kill you heap
quick, you go in there.”
“He is trying to frighten us so we’ll not go into the valley,” thought
Frank. Aloud he said:
“That’s all right; I’ll take chances. I reckon the two of us will be too
much for Mr. Lion.”
“White boy much foolish,” declared the old redskin grimly. “Make big
supper for lion. Lion him like white man for supper.”
“And I’ll have the pelt of that lion just as sure as I live,” said Merry, as
if in sudden determination. “Come on, Bart!”
The old Indian rose quickly as they were about to start forward.
“Stop!” he cried. “Ole Joe Crowfoot him tell you truth. If you go in
there you never come back some more. Ole Joe Crowfoot him good
Injun—him like white man heap much. No want to see um hurt. Tell
um to stay back.”
The old savage seemed deeply in earnest now, but that earnestness
was something that added to Frank’s suspicions and made him all
the more determined to go on.
“That’s all right,” said Merry, with a grim smile. “It’s kind of you to
take so much interest in us, but we’re going after your heap bad lion,
and we’ll have his pelt.”
“Night come soon,” said the Indian, with a motion toward the range
on range of mountains rising to the westward. “Then lion him crouch
and spring. Him git you quick.”
“We’ll see. If you wait round here long enough we’ll show you the
pelt of your bad lion when we come back.”
“No come back,” declared Old Joe Crowfoot, solemnly. “No see you
some more. By-by.”
An expression of deep sadness and regret was on his wrinkled old
face as he uttered the words. Merry laughed lightly, and they rode
past him and headed onward into the valley.
“He was very anxious to stop us,” said Hodge.
“That’s right,” nodded Frank. “He was altogether too anxious. As
soon as I tumbled to that I decided to take a look into the valley. Do
you know, we stumbled on the entrance to this valley by accident. I
fancy we might search a week for it, if we were to go away now,
without finding it.”
“I was thinking of that,” said Bart. “It might puzzle us to find it again.
Perhaps that old duffer was counting on that. Those red dogs are
treacherous, and——”
They heard a sharp cry behind them. Whirling in the saddle, Frank
saw the old Indian standing with the butt of his rifle pressed against
his shoulder.
The muzzle on the rifle was turned directly toward Frank, and plainly
the redskin was on the point of pressing the trigger.
Frank knew he was in deadly peril, and he would have attempted to
fling himself from the saddle but for something else he saw.
On a mass of jagged rocks behind the Indian and about twenty feet
above his head had appeared a boy. Not over thirteen years of age
was the lad, whose curly, dark hair fell upon his shoulders. He was
dressed in fanciful garments, like those worn by a young Mexican
lad, and the bright colors of his clothes made him a picturesque
figure.
Plainly it was from his lips that the cry had issued.
In his hand the boy held a stone as large as a man’s fist, and even
as Merry turned he hurled the stone. Straight through the air whizzed
the missile, striking the barrel of the old Indian’s rifle.
Smoke belched from the muzzle of the weapon and the crags flung
back the sound of the report, but the bullet flew wild.
Frank Merriwell’s life had been saved by the stone thrown by the
strange boy.
With an exclamation of rage, Hodge snatched up his rifle and reined
his mount round to take a shot at the redskin, who had wheeled
instantly and was clambering up the rocks toward the boy, as if bent
on murder.
“Soak him, Merry!” panted Bart.
Frank’s first impulse was to shoot, but he quickly saw that he was in
no further danger just then, and he had no desire to shed human
blood unless compelled to do so.
Bart’s rifle rose, but Merry thrust the muzzle aside just as the
weapon spoke, and the bullet flattened on the rocks.
“Why did you do that?” roared Hodge, in amazement and anger.
“Can’t you see! That red devil is going to murder the kid!”
It did seem that the Indian meant the boy harm, and Merry shouted:
“If you put a hand on that boy I’ll bore you!”
At the same time he held his own rifle ready for instant use.